Mercato Madness: Napoli trying to hijack Gyomber signing

Well, it certainly seems that Napoli want to reinforce their defense. After earlier reports that Napoli are considering making an offer for Hector Moreno, a new report in Italy indicates that Napoli are also looking on home shores for help on the back line, jumping in and trying to blow up a deal in the works between Sampdoria and Catania.

The player in question is Catania's Norbert Gyomber, a 22 year old central defender of Slovakian origin who has shown much promise with Catania over the last 18 months. Of course, Catania were relegated last season, but Gromber has taken fairly significant strides in his development this season, and could be a good piece for Napoli to bring in and develop, especially with Kalidou Koulibaly and Raul Albiol around to work with him.

Napoli were reportedly considering making an offer for him several days ago, but then Sampdoria came in and opened negotiations, supposedly coming fairly close to signing Gyomber on a permanent transfer in the last day. Those negotiations have, apparently, come to a screeching halt, which Sportitalia believes is due to Napoli coming in and trying to trump the deal.

It'd be hard for Gyomber to say no to Napoli if they do have a bid accepted; Sampdoria are a much-improved side this season, but Napoli offers him a higher competitive level and European football. He'd be a backup for now at either side, but Napoli would likely be able to offer him higher wages and greater competitive rewards once he does break in to the starting lineup. Plus, Gyomber would be playing club matches with his international captain Marek Hamsik, which is a pretty good situation to be in for a guy just breaking in to his national team.

It'd be a smart signing for Napoli, as Gyomber seems like a solid central defender in the making, and it doesn't seem likely to be a terribly expensive deal. If they can get this done, they absolutely should. Besides, how many chances to you get to have a guy named "Norbert" in your team?